Railway journal box lid seal



Dec. 15, 1964 J, J. HENNESSY, JR

RAILWAY JOURNAL BOX L'ID SEAL Filed July 19, 1962 United States Patent 3,16L444 RAILWAY JGURNAL BUX LID SEAL James J. Hennessy, in, 605 Guilford Ave, Chambershurg, Pa. Filed Euly 19, 1962, Ser. No. 210,898 4 Qlaims. (Cl. 30847) The invention relates to railway journal boxes of the type having an outer opening and a lid closure for same hinged to one of the walls at one side of the opening and provided with a spring device normally thrusting the lid into closed position in which it engages the ends of the wall surrounding the box opening.

The invention comprises a seal of rubber-like material to be compressed between the lid and the ends of the box walls and includes clip means for readily attaching the seal to the lid, and simplifying removal and replacement of the seal, all without special construction of the lid or box or any machining of the same.

The main objects of the invention are to prevent passage of dust, moisture, oil or other foreign matter between the box and the lid irrespective of inaccuracies or absence of tight fit of a metal lid against a metal box, and to avoid injury or displacement of the seal when the box is opened for addition of oil, or for removal and replacement of a wedge or hearing within the box. A further object is to provide a seal which will be inexpensive to produce and to apply or remove.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating a selected embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through the end portion of a railway axle journal and journal box and associated parts.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal section on line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an elevation of the seal looking in the direction of arrow 3 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a vertical section and edge elevation on line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

The box illustrated is of usual Association of American Railroads (A.A.R.) standard and includes a bottom wall 11, the forward end of which is curved upwardly and terminates in an outwardly disposed edge 12, side walls 13, having forward edges 14, and a top wall 15 having a front edge 16. Edges 12, 14 and 16 lie in a common plane and surround the forward opening into the box. A flat lid 18 is hinged at 19 to lugs 2% on the box top wall and is pressed by a flat spring 21 toward the forward edges of the box walls.

The seal is of rubber-like material, preferably a synthetic plastic which is resistant to oil and abrasives and is of hollow rectangular frame-like contour (FIG. 3) with a top member 22, bottom member 23 and side members 24. One side face 25 of the seal is flat for application to the box lid. The other face of the seal is corrugated or ribbed as indicated at 26 for more effective yielding upon contact with the box wall edges when the lid is closed. Mounted on opposite members of the rectangular seal are a plurality of clips 28 each having a flat terminal 29 embedded in and flush with the fiat face 25 or" the seal. The clip projects outwardly from the perimeter of the rectangular seal and is bent as shown at 36 to clear the lid flange and abut against a box wall and is then rebent as indicated at 31 to form with the terminal 3,161,444 Patented Dec. 15, 164

29 a pair of jaws which may be distorted to yieldingly grip the box lid between them. Rivets 33 secure terminals 29 to the seal but the seal is secured to the lid by the frictional grip of the clips and may be readily snapped onto the lid or from the lid or slid along the lid to center it more accurately relative to the edges of the box walls.

The seal is effective for its intended purpose, inexpensive, and does not interfere with admission to the interior of the box, and is not affected by tools or equipment used in inserting or removing lubricating pads beneath journal I or bearings B and wedges W above the journal.

The contours of the clips and their positioning on the seal may be varied and other details of the seal may be varied substantially without departing from the spirit of the invention and the exclusive use of those modifications coming within the scope of the claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is: 1. A railway journal box lid andv seal, the seal comprising an open rectangular frame unit of fiat rubber-like material lying flat against the face of the lid, and flat metal spring clips secured to and embedded in the unit substantially flush with one exposed face thereof and extending beyond the unit in a direction parallel to the general plane of the unit and forming jaws distortable transversely of said plane and gripping the marginal portions of the lid between them. 2. A railway journal box, lid and seal, the seal comprising a continuous hollow rectangular frame having side and end members lying in a common plane, each member being formed of an elongated thin relatively wide fiat strip of rubber-like material, and spring clips at opposite sides of the frame, each clip having a terminal secured to one of said members, there being an angular offset in the clip spaced from the end of said terminal and forming a shoulder normal to the frame engaging a side of the box, each of the clips having a projection from the outer portion of said angular olfset forming a return bend terminal opposing the firstmentioned terminal, the clip being distortable between its terminals to space the same transversely of said plane from the firstmentioned terminal and receiving and frictionaily gripping the marginal portion of the journal box lid between the terminals. 3. In combination with a journal box having side, top and bottom walls, the forward ends of which form a rectangular opening to the interior of the box,

a lid hinged to the box adjacent to the top wall and i pivotally movable to position the lid against the ends of said walls,

a rectangular seal of thin rubber-like material lying fiat between the lid and said wall ends,

there being'spaced apart clips secured to opposite marginal portions of the seal,

each clip including spaced apart spring jaws and a con nection between them, said clip being distortable and yieldingly gripping the lid between the jaws and-slidably adjustable along the lid.

a versely of the plane of the unit to receive the mar- 23 l 4. A railway journal box lid seal comprising said clips being disposed along opposite marginal poran open rectangular frame unit of flat rubber-like mations of the unit with a pair of jaws along one marterial lying in a common plane, ginal portion opening toward a pair of jaws along and spring clips each having an end portion embedded an opposite margin.

in the unit and substantially flush with one face 5 th f, References Cited in the file of this patent the clip projecting outwardly from the outer perimeter UNiTED STATES PA N S of the unit in the general plane of the unit and there provided with a return bend with an end portion cog gff 2 operating with the other end portion to form oppos- 10 2871068 fi on i 1959 mg aws facing toward each other distortable trans- 2,906,566 Sale Sept. 29 1959 ginal portion of a lid between them, 

1. A RAILWAY JOURNAL BOX LID AND SEAL, THE SEAL COMPRISING AN OPEN RECTANGULAR FRAME UNIT OF FLAT RUBBER-LIKE MATERIAL LYING FLAT AGAINST THE FACE OF THE LID, AND FLAT METAL SPRING CLIPS SECURED TO AND EMBEDDED IN THE UNIT SUBSTANTIALLY FLUSH WITH ONE EXPOSED FACE THEREOF AND EXTENDING BEYOND THE UNIT IN A DIRECTION PARALLEL TO THE GENERAL PLANE OF THE UNIT AND FORMING JAWS DISTORTABLE TRANSVERSELY OF SAID PLANE AND GRIPPING THE MARGINAL PORTIONS OF THE LID BETWEEN THEM. 